This article, which continues an annual series, describes the main changes in external assets and liabilities recorded in 1985. It also examines the impact of valuation effects on the external balance sheet. Some broad estimates of the full returns on assets and liabilities are made and compared with recorded flows of interest, profits and dividends, and some of the factors affecting the banks' contribution to the current account are described.
The external balance sheet of the United Kingdom: developments to end-1985